Welcome Back, Booklovers! You know I love doing these author interviews and with so many great books by Black authors releasing over the next few months I'm happy to put some new books on your radar. So today I'd like to introduce you to Joya Goffney who has a book Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry debuting on May 4.
In your own words what is Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry about?
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry is about a compulsive list maker who’s so afraid of change that she writes lists of her fears, rather than facing them. Once her list journal goes missing, and an anonymous blackmailer forces her to face those fears, she and Carter—the last known person to have her journal—journey through everything she’s been avoiding for the past couple of months, everything she’s been lying about. Along the way, they grow together as a couple and as individuals. Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry is about facing change and forcing change and growth. It’s about letting yourself ugly cry through the bad stuff but getting right back up to fight. It’s about love and boundaries and trust.
What is an ugly cry for the people who don’t know?
Everyone has ugly cried at least once in their life. It is a cry that is quite literally ugly. A cry of frustration, desperation, fury, or despair that takes over your entire face—so much so that you can’t control the pulling of your lips outward and the drool that spills out of your mouth and the snot pouring from your nostrils or the sounds scratching up your throat. It’s crying so hard you can’t breathe. It’s crying so hard that you don’t care how unattractive you look.
When was the last time you ugly cried?
It’s been a long while—and that’s not to say that I haven’t needed to ugly cry, but I just haven’t let myself break down like that in a long time. I tend to save my ugliest cries for the shower, and usually it’s stress that makes me buckle. I always call it something else though—find some other unfortunate reason to cry about—but it’s nothing but stress.
Quinn is finding her stride as a Black girl in a very white environment and learning to stand up and speak out against microaggressions. Why was it important to include that in this story?
I studied (Black) social psychology pretty heavily when I was in college. There’s a model of Nigrescence developed by William E. Cross Jr that suggests Black people go through five stages in development of their Black identity. Of course, it’s only a theory—I am not suggesting in any way that this model applies to all Black people. However, I personally refer to this model a lot when writing new characters—I ask myself, which stage is this character in, currently, and where will they eventually end up?
At the start of the book, Quinn had recently stopped talking to her best friend Destany, because of some unknown reason. After reading the book, and after reading over the stages of Nigrescence, it is quite obvious that Quinn was in the ‘encounter’ stage. Chase’s party was like a wake-up call for her. Previous to the party, the racist things her friends would say kind of flew over her head.
It was important for me to include this aspect of the book, because I feel like it took me so long to finally ‘encounter’ my race, to finally wake up—because, yes, I would notice racist things, but back then it was like they somehow didn’t apply to me. It was literally like I was asleep. I feel like if I had been able to read a book like this earlier on, maybe my eyes would have opened a little sooner. When I was in high school, there weren’t books with Black girls on the cover. So I’m beyond honored to be a part of the current wave—to be able to supply some of the books I wish I could have read as a teenager.
I really love the lists that are present throughout the book. Do you have a bucket list or list of things to do before a certain age?
I actually don’t—not currently. In high school, I would write a single list per year of things I wanted to accomplish. Sometimes the lists would have these big, important items, like get my first kiss, but a lot of the times the items were stupid little dares—like go a whole day without speaking. Why? I have no idea!
Currently, I’m just living my life. Not really challenging myself, because life feels pretty challenging as it is, but maybe I should pick it back up? Maybe I should make a current to-do list of challenges/fears/dreams and start making a change for the better.
What was it like growing up in a small town in East Texas?
My experience growing up in New Waverly, I’m sure, was different than other kids there. I was particularly sheltered. I had never left Texas until I was in my early twenties. I’ve never been on a plane, either. And being from a small town, I grew up surrounded by the same faces for eighteen years. I had no idea that I didn’t know how to make friends until I went to university in Austin—completely alone. When I got there, my dad dropped me at my dorm, and then it was just me. I didn’t know where to go for food. I only ate tiny bags of chips for a couple of days, holed up in my dorm, until I got too hungry to bear it. I blame small town life for my social anxiety.
But it wasn’t all bad. I found my people in New Waverly. My best friends—people who are more than just friends—my family. I love being from the country—love the culture. Trail rides, country eating, beautiful scenery, and traffic is a dream out there. As much as it may have affected me socially, coming from a small town has shaped my art and the things my eyes are drawn to.
What authors inspire you?
Angie Thomas for her relatable characters and the humor she sprinkles throughout her stories—her very serious, topical stories. Nicola Yoon for her beautiful language and her amazing pacing, and just the experience she creates with her books. Kristina Forest for her beautiful Black couples and the adventures they go on—the joy, the swoony love. Kristina’s debut was the first book I’d read with a Black couple. She was my hero. She still is!
What inspired you to start writing?
Back in junior high and high school, I wrote romance stories about myself falling in love with boys who were too hot to be real. During college, though, I stopped writing for fun. Writing was a chore. Essays were due every week. I’d stopped reading for fun too. But right around my senior year, I remembered ohmygod books. In high school, I would read books and fall into the story without any critiques. Authors knew what they were doing. Who was I to think otherwise? After college, I actually tried to figure out why certain books were amazing, and why others were not so much. And when I had no idea what career I wanted to pursue after graduation, I convinced myself that maybe I could write?
Despite the craziness of the past year what has been the most exciting part of debuting so far?
The most exciting part was in the very beginning, before any of this was real. The response back from my agent, Brianne Johnson, asking for the first fifty pages of my manuscript—oh my God, I cried. Then the next morning, she asked for a full, and I screamed (and cried). Then she requested The Call, and I cried again. I cried a lot in the beginning. A lot. And it was amazing, because it was like, out of nowhere, everything was starting to look up. I wasn’t just a finance assistant at a car dealership. Someone out there thought my writing was good enough to sell.
Have you picked up any new hobbies during the pandemic?
Yoga! Right around the start of the pandemic, March 2020, I lost my day job. It’s crazy, because all I had wanted was to quit anyway. But wow. Being home all day, having that much time without any structure made those two months one of the hardest periods I’ve ever had to get through. Taking up yoga was the best thing I could have done. When I felt anxious and panicked and out of control, yoga made me feel strong and present.
If you could travel any place in the world to research for a new book, where would you travel?
Hmmm. Anywhere would be great, seeing as how the only places I’ve been (outside of Texas) are New Mexico and Colorado. But if I had to choose… Washington. I have always wanted to go to Washington—the beautiful trees and the rain and the cold seems like an awesome setting for a warm love story.
Are there any new books you’re working on that you can tell us about?
Yes! My second book recently got approved! The only thing I can tell you about it, at this point, is that it is a very, very personal story—even more so than Ugly Cry—based on an experience I had early in my current relationship. Dare I say, a condition that I had, and that I was able to cure, thankfully. There’s swoony, steamy love. There’s adventure. And I personally think this one is really, really funny! But you’ll just have to see for yourself!
You can follow Joya Goffney on Twitter at
joya_goffney and be sure to pre-order her book!
Enjoyed the interview.
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